Those Who Behold Her
by Yudachi
Summary: She isn't just a girl. She isn't just a chuunin. She isn't just the next clan head. She is more than these to those that behold her. This is how the male usedtobe rookies see Hyuuga Hinata.
1. Shino

_She isn't just a girl. She isn't just a chuunin. She isn't just an heiress to an eminent clan. She is more than these to those that behold her._

**i. Needed**

I've been taking this path to town for many years now that I have practically mastered every step. My feet stop walking as I reach the gates of walled expanse.

It isn't the least populated track or the shortest way—

It just took me to her direction.

I've been doing so everyday.

Let's just call it training.

Unnecessary training. But I still do it. If it is unnecessary, then it is not needed. If it is not needed and I still do it, then it is a waste of time. And wasting time is foolish. Fine. So it _is_ foolish. But it is this foolishness that –

Her voice wakes me up from my autopilot mode.

"Ohayou gozaimasu, Shino-kun." She greets me with a smile.

"Have you been waiting long?" I asked. It was the only …_appropriate_ thing to ask.

"Not really. Will Kurenai-sensei be with us today?" And we start walking to the direction of the training grounds.

"No. She hasn't come back yet."

"So, it'll be just you, me and Kiba-kun."

"Yes."

She knew that Kurenai-sensei wouldn't be back for another week. She knew that it'll always be Kiba, me and her doing training together. This conversation was another …unnecessary thing. I could have just kept quiet and saved my breath. I could've just gone my way to the training grounds alone.

She could've just left me alone. She could've not asked questions that she knew the answers to. She could've just pretended not to see me and not greet me with a cheerful smile on her little rose lips.

And I'm glad that my musings were not reality.

..because I've realized long ago that I needed these to keep me human — that I needed her.

She tugs at my jacket. "We're here, Shino-kun."

* * *

_**Those Who Behold Her**  
Ch1: Needed  
Naruto  
published __09-08-07  
__edited 07-22-11_

_AN: __The story's set after the time skip. They're all 16. Let's pretend that Sasuke returned, Gaara didn't die and Sai never existed. Work with me here. :3_


	2. Kiba

**ii. Chance**

Shino has been hard on me today.

What just happened wasn't the usual training – it was _his _training. He sent a whole troop of bugs at me and made me dodge them without Akamaru. He said I should keep on working on individual jutsus. _Without the dog,_ he said. So I said, _Why don't you attack me without the bugs?_ And he got pissed. He didn't flinch and you couldn't see his eyes so you couldn't really tell – but _I _can. That's why I'm here, sitting on this bench, body numb, exhausted, out of breath and… _hey!_

_Itaiii! _My legs hurt! I can't get up …yet.

So he wasn't all that hard on me - since I could still move my head sideways.

_Where's Akamaru?_

Just one whistle and he'll come. Okay, here I go… _Ugh._ I can't move my hands.

Looking at the right, there's Shino. He looks weird… talking to his hand – eh, bug on his hand. _Oh no!_ He's gonna look this way! The other direction, quick!

At the left is… _whew_. There he is. That dog. I thought he ran off with other forest creatures again. Hinata is petting him.

And somehow, somewhere inside me, I feel something strange – and yet so familiar. It was not pain; it was _envy_. She is brushing through Akamaru's fur with such light gentleness that any kind of breeze couldn't do. How would her caress feel like? Would it be warm and soft and… _Wait._ Am I really envying my dog? It's really humiliating having to sit here doing nothing, beaten by a horde of insects.

And then I realize that I while I'm sitting here paralyzed, I am gawking at her. I can't sit here and gawk at her all day, ne? I guess I need some help.

_Shin… che! _I spit out his name. Why would I ask _him_ for help?

_Hinata…_ I try to say. But not even a whisper could escape my lips.

"Eh? Kiba- …kun. Daijobu?" She asks while walking in my direction, Akamaru following her every step.

I know she didn't hear me, but here she is, right in front of me, Byakugan activated, studying my damage. This is so like her. To be here when I need her to be. Even if I never asked. She's just _here_.

"Anou…" she says in analysis, looking at my neck, then down. "You made Shino-kun really mad, ne, Kiba-kun?"

Hmph. He didn't have to do this to me and make me lose face in front of her. _I swear I'm so gonna get Shino for this._

"…eight, sixteen, thirty-two. Feeling better now, Kiba-kun? I just unclogged your shakra system a bit where Shino hit you."

"Yeah. Thank you," I manage to say instinctively. _Wait._ I got my voice back? And I can move, too!

She then turned to Shino and said "You've really improved your accuracy, Shino-kun. I'm glad."

And I really never cared to how Shino replied to that because… BECAUSE this is all HIS FAULT!

Hinata touched me but I was numb to even feel it! To think I've been waiting for something like this and I didn't even get to see it because I was thinking of getting back at him!

_Damn you, Shino._

My golden chance just passed.

_Damn._

* * *

_**Those Who Behold Her**  
__Ch2: Chance__  
__Naruto__  
__published 09-08-07__  
__edited 07-22-11_


	3. Shikamaru

-----------------------------------------------------

**iii. Interesting**

-----------------------------------------------------

_This is another boring morning._

And there is nothing I can do to change it.

I sigh as I walk through the stairs.

So I'm a ninja. _Big deal._ You get to do missions, go away on some far country, fight, maybe kill some people on the way, and then return to where you started to report on what you've done. You listen to what is said. You do what you're commanded to do. You deliver what is expected of you. _Che._ It gets pretty boring when you've done it for so long. _I'd rather be sleeping._

It's not like I'm slacking off a job. I've already done my part for today and if there are any new missions for me, well, I'm just delaying the time it takes for the message to be delivered to me by a bit. Heh, fine. You can call me lazy. _As if I care._

The steps take me to an all too familiar doorway that leads to a rooftop. This is my favorite place in Konoha. It's cool and breezy here with the shade of the tall oak tree protecting me from sunlight, yet it still lets me see through it to view the clouds. I take my walk towards the shade… but, wait… Is somebody there? I quickly grab a shuriken from my leg pouch.

"Konnichiwa, Shika… maru-kun," a voice said in between yawns. It seems that my presence has awakened her.

I tilt my head a little to see who it was. _Oh._

"Hinata-chan, what are you doing here?" I put back the shuriken.

"Training for today ended earlier than expected. I have nothing to do 'til a bit later." She stretches her arms and leans against a wall. "Do you mind if I stay a little bit… longer?" She asked, yawning on the last word.

I liked being alone but leaving and finding another spot to sleep in would be a tad too _troublesome_ for me. And so will asking her to leave. I don't want that cousin of hers (and that dog boy and that other bug guy) challenging me and making me ask for forgiveness either. So I said, "It's okay, Hinata-chan" and took my usual resting position which was a few good feet away from her.

A few silent minutes pass.

"That," she pauses to point to the sky, "looks like an onigiri."

I look at the said cloud. "Yeah, it does."

I thought I was the only person in Konoha to give a damn how clouds look like. Til now. Here is Hyuuga Hinata, sitting beside me, seeing the same things I see in the sky.

"And that one over there looks like a teapot."

It would be rude not to reply. "Yeah."

She is fixated on the clouds and does not notice me glance at her.

I think this is the first time I've ever talked to her about something not about missions or techniques. Strangely enough, the topic of our conversation was about clouds.

A new image forms in my mind. I let Hinata know without thinking about it. "The one under the teapot looks like a ramen bowl, ne?"

"Um." I see her nod her head from the corners of my eyes.

She was unlike the brash girls of our batch. She never bragged about her bloodline or how well she was doing on creating jutsus in our academy days, even now. She never lost control, even when our classmates make fun of her snow-colored eyes. She was very soft-spoken and polite. She didn't go wild on trends. She never stuck her nose into other people's personal lives like Sakura or Ino did. She just keeps quiet and watches everything around her. She was never like them. _In any way at all_. She was better. In her own way. I think.

"Floating ebi tempura…" I hear her say.

It was my turn to nod. "Yeah."

I never did like girls. They were a species of life too troublesome for me to cope up with.

But… she was _different_. She was kind and gentle and never called attention upon herself. _Why was it only now that I noticed?_ She was _interesting_.

"Hinata-chan, do…" My sentence was cut as I heard someone open the door that lead here. It was a rookie genin.

"Hyuuga-sensei, classes start in ten minutes," the rookie said.

Hinata stood up and dusted herself off. "Okay. Thanks for picking me up, Ise-kun." She walked towards the boy, leaving me where I sat.

Before she closed the door after her, she looked my way. "Ne, Shikamaru-kun, were you saying something?"

I was going to ask her out to eat since I noticed she saw nothing but images of food floating in the sky. It was simple logic that she was hungry. No use asking her that now.

I give her a smile to ease that look of query in her face. "Maybe we can go cloud-watching again?"

"Of course, Shikamaru-kun."

The door closes and I continue looking at the sky.

And I see her there.

The morning isn't so boring after all.

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_tsuzuku…_

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	4. Lee

**iv. Unexpected**

I stand in front of Iruka-sensei's genin class here at the grounds of Konoha Gakuen – I'm substituting for him. I just hope he comes back tomorrow. The spirit of youth is great and all _but I don't think I'm ready to handle thirty kids yet._

The students look up from whatever they're doing to the space at my back.

_She's here._

Classes start now.

"We have a special guest for our taijutsu class today. Everyone, this is Hyuuga Hinata-san."

A chorus of _"Good morning, Hyuuga-san"_ was heard.

"Hyuuga-san here is the –" I began, but an anxious boy cut off my introduction. His name's Ise as from what I can remember.

"The next Hyuuga clan leader, master of genjutsu, and one great medic nin!"

She smiled playfully. "Why thank you for the introduction, Ise-kun. That was very impressive-sounding. How's training been going?"

I could see that Ise was beaming with happiness by being addressed by Hinata personally. "I've been doing well, Hyuuga-sensei!"

"Yeah. I did notice that he's been... inspired these past few days," I said. Then I whispered a question to Hinata. "Hyuuga-sensei? Where did that come from?"

"He was one of my patients the other week. I thought him a thing or two. Hyuuga-sama was a little too much for him to be calling me so I settled for Hyuuga-sensei instead," she said to me in a hushed tone so that the students can't hear it.

"So, anyway," I told the genins, "we'll be dealing with defense today."

A sound of collective groans escaped from the students.

"Aww, Lee-sensei! Iruka-sensei been training us on defending for an eternity already! Let's just do genjutsus today! Hyuuga-san can teach us!" a female genin in pigtails moaned.

"And I heard you guys haven't shown any progress at all," I retorted.

I wasn't even aware that I've launched a mini-speech about how taijutsus are as important as the other ninjutsus.

"Yeah, yeah, we get it! Taijutsu is so _swell_!" a student beside me yelled. She effectively cut off my train of thoughts. Her name's Misa, I think.

"Well, that isn't polite now, is it, Lee-sensei?" With one quick motion, Hinata hit a point in Misa's spine.

A look of panic was across Misa's face. "Lee-sensei! I- I can't- mo- move! I can't move! Help me, Lee-sensei!"

Hinata certainly got the class's attention.

She then began her own lecture entirely different from the lesson plan Iruka-sensei prepared for today. (_And I have to say that she's doing a better job at this than me!_)

"You, (she then turned to me to ask the paralyzed girl's name) Misa-chan, wasn't even aware that I was going to attack." She then turned to the rest of the class. "Defense is important. Always stay on guard. Also guard your rear and know which parts you have to defend to keep your body functioning. We all need to attack to defeat our opponents, (here she changed her stance) but we also have to defend to survive."

She then ran towards the pigtailed girl who complained earlier. Completely startled, the girl just stood there rooted on the spot. Hinata landed a soft blow to the girl's right shoulder. The pigtailed girl fell unconscious. Hinata then caught her in her arms to prevent the girl from hitting the ground.

Hinata had one eyebrow up in disbelief. "I thought she had enough time to react given she that she saw ready to attack her from a distance."

All the students were in awe – Hinata didn't look like the offensive type. _Even I didn't expect her to launch attacks._ But it's good this way – now, everybody's _actually listening_.

"Uh, Hinata-san, don't you think we need them to be participating in the class too?" I lightly suggested, pointing my head to the paralyzed Misa and the unconscious Kaname (I heard the students beside me say that it was her name) whom she had lain on the ground.

"Just a few more demos, Lee-san. Let's see how much they've gotten far in defense lessons." Hinata said smiling an innocent-looking smile, changing her stance into an attacking position.

_I think that was a sweatdrop that fell at the side of my face._

Hinata's making me a little worried... I don't have any idea what she's like when she's... uh, agitated. Neji didn't say much about her. Well... Neji never says much to anybody.

"Everybody, get ready to defend yourselves!" I yell to the students. The least I can do is give them a warning of what's gonna happen to them.

She moved so fast that all I could see was blurs. Three more fell unconscious, four can't move and two can't move their arms.

"Cool," I heard a student say.

"Wicked," said another.

_Awesome,_ I thought.

_Time to get back to your senses, Lee_. "I think that's enough warm-up now, Hyuuga-san. Can you revive them now?"

"I'm sorry. I must be carried away for a minute there…" she says while unblocking one student's tenkitsu.

And so the rookie genins had the best defense lessons they ever had since they joined the Academy. The students are all gone now and only the two of us are left sitting on the grass.

"You were great, Hinata-chan! You'd be a great Academy teacher! I couldn't even get those rookies to take me seriously!"

She plops onto the grass, releasing a big sigh of fatigue. "I don't think I'm up for it though. It's too tiring. How did _you_ manage to handle those kids? You've been substituting Iruka-sensei for a week now, haven't you?

"_You_ should have shown them _your_ moves, Lee-kun."

I can feel my cheeks go hot. I thought I was the one complimenting her, now she's turned the conversation back to me. _Hinata, oh humble Hinata._ "I thought about it but decided that showing them my style was too early for them.

"Thanks for helping me out on this one. Iruka-sensei's taking a bit longer to return and these kids are getting harder to handle."

She closes her eyes.

"Anytime, Lee-kun."

She looks so peaceful. Her hair is splayed on the grass. She looked like… _an angel that fell from the clouds._

This angel has surprised me. When I asked for another shinobi to take over Iruka-sensei's task, I was, _of course_, denied by Tsunade-sama. But she said she'll send reinforcement.

I was expecting Naruto to come – he was great with kids. Or Kiba – he was always up for challenges. In my desperation, I even hoped that Shino would come to help me.

But it was her who came. I heard she even volunteered for it. _"I want to escape hospital duties for a short while,"_ she said in a cheery tone.

Heh. _Hyuuga Hinata knows how to play hooky._ I never knew. I smirk.

…

And I notice that I have been staring at her. _Whew._ Good thing she can't see me looking at her.

…_or can she?_ She's a Hyuuga and she has the Byakugan… I heard she can use it now without the opponent noticing. (As in the veins on her face won't show anymore when she uses it…) _I can feel myself panicking at this awkward thought…_

Her eyes fly open. _Panic._ I felt as if my heart skipped a beat.

"I- I'm sorr-" I try to apologise, but I think she didn't hear my feeble stutters.

"He's here," Hinata says, standing up, brushing the stray grass off her clothes.

"Hinata-hime! So this is where you are. I thought you had hospital duty today." He walks toward her.

She smiles at him. "I changed my mind, Neji-niisan."

"Just tell me beforehand, okay? You are becoming harder and harder to find these days. We still have a meeting to go to, hime," Neji says while taking some blades of grass off her hair. (I feel as though they couldn't see me there sitting on the grass. _Hmph._)

"You coming along, Lee-kun?" _Finally._ She remembered I still exist.

"Nah. I didn't get summoned. You guys go ahead."

"Ja ne." She walks alongside her cousin.

But before she disappears from my sight, she looks back at me and yells, "It's rude to stare, _Lee-kuuun!_"

And I fell back to the grass, hoping that I would just blend in with it and never be seen again. I could hear myself groan.

_I certainly didn't expect that._

* * *

_**Those Who Behold Her**__  
Ch4: Unexpected  
Naruto  
published 09-08-07  
edited 07-22-11_


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